The Redemption of Skywalker
by RagingTigerRising
Summary: While the Resistance attempts to rebuild and garner support across the galaxy, darkness rises once again. Shameless "fix-it" fic for TROS.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: After watching The Rise of Skywalker and thinking for weeks about all of the ridiculous plot holes, inconsistencies, and non-existent character development (not to mention the ending, which…I can't. I just can't.), I decided to come out of fanfiction "retirement" and write a fix-it fic. Let's do this, fans.

* * *

Chapter One

With barely a grunt, Kylo Ren drove his lightsaber through the man in front of him and threw another one against a tree with a force push. He allowed frustration and anger to flow through him, fueling his body as he pushed onward and drove the inept, yet numerous, make-shift soldiers back towards the villages they were trying to protect. Somewhere in that village was a traitor – an officer who deserted his post and stole valuable plans for the new fleet the First Order was constructing.

When one of his generals reported the theft and desertion, Kylo flew into a rage and knocked the general clear out of his chair and into the wall behind him. The other generals wisely remained silent and obeyed immediately when Kylo ordered that his ship be prepared immediately.

Another villager came at him with some sort of farming tool, swaying it back and forth wildly. Kylo took a quick step back to avoid being hit in the midsection.

"You'll never take our children, you monster!" The man screamed angrily and tried to bring the tool down on Kylo's unprotected head.

Kylo reached up and ripped the tool from the man's hands, tossing it aside before driving his lightsaber through the man's shoulder and watching him fall to the ground in pain.

_Ah, _he thought to himself. _So they aren't protecting the traitor. _

The villagers thought that the First Order was there to steal their children for the storm-trooper program. That's why they launched a defensive attack the moment Kylo and his single unit of storm-troopers had landed.

A tiny part of him – the part that he kept locked away and hidden deep inside – felt a stab of remorse as he cut down the next villager trying to protect his family.

Angrily shoving down the feeling, he shouted his rage to the sky and ran forward, driving through the remainder of his opponents quickly and efficiently. He tried to ignore the fact that he was mostly disarming and injuring rather than killing. The unit behind him obediently followed, gunning down stragglers who were trying to escape into the forest.

The fighting abruptly ended and Kylo panted, whipping around in every direction only to realize that there were no more opponents to face. The ground was littered with bodies, most still alive and groaning in pain much to his annoyance. Make-shift weapons were strewn across the clearing.

Deactivating his lightsaber, he returned it to his side and turned to his unit, indicating with a quick hand gesture that they were to fan out around the village and round everyone up. They quickly jumped into action, rushing through the clearing and shouting orders through their helmets to scared and frightened villagers.

People screamed in fear as they were forced out of hiding places and homes and thrown into a crowd in the centre of the village. Kylo ran his hands through his hair and wiped the sweat off his face as his storm-troopers forced everyone to kneel on the ground. Once everyone was rounded up and ordered into silence, he pinned a fierce stare onto the crowd and strode into the village.

Women huddled crying children and babies to their chests and sides, but bravely met his gaze as he slowly made his way around the large crowd before him.

"There is a traitor in your midst."

The crowd reacted to his soft voice like it was a whip, cringing away from it. Some whimpered in fear.

He continued walking around the crowd, eyeing every individual and reaching out through the force to sift through the thick wall of fear and panic emanating from the crowd. "He is an outsider. Someone new. He has betrayed the First Order, and he has betrayed you. He brought this attack down on your village," he paused to peer closer at a young man who was staring hard at the ground and swallowing anxiously. A quick scan of his mind revealed childhood memories from the village. He was a local.

"Give him to me," Kylo ordered the crowd. "Now."

"If we do," a small, shaky voice from the middle of the crowd spoke above the whimpers. "Will you leave us be?"

Kylo's eyes focused on the older woman who spoke. He brushed against her mind and saw a flash of an image in her mind. A single hut in the woods. She knew where the man was.

He made his way around the crowd and continued to pin her with his intense gaze, though she kept her focus on the back of the woman in front of her.

"You know where he is," Kylo tore deeper into her mind and ignored the gasp of pain she emitted as he did so. "Near the river. To the east of the tower."

He pointed in the direction and gave his storm-troopers the order. "Go."

Half of the unit took off obediently while the others kept their guns trained on the crowd.

"Shall we round up the children, sir?" The captain of the unit turned to Kylo.

The women cried out and clung to their children in fear.

Kylo snorted. He had no interest in stealing children for the storm-trooper program, though his generals were insistent that they needed to replenish their troops after the Finalizer debacle.

He was about to give an affirmative order when something caught his eye and he froze.

Large brown eyes stared up at him without fear and with a hint of defiance. Brown hair was pulled back into three buns at the back of her head. Her mouth was set and her hands were laying calmly on her thighs. No parent clung to her, and she sat slightly apart from the person next to her. She looked to be no older than eight or nine.

Kylo paused and continued to stare at the girl. She bravely met his gaze and her eyebrows settled into a frown as she tried to intimidate him. It would have been amusing had he not been slightly shaken at how similar she looked to the scavenger.

_Rey_.

Oh, how he had tried to push her from his mind. Ever since the battle of Crait, when she had closed the door of the Falcon in his face, he had tried to ignore the sting of rejection. As the feeling of self-loathing and loneliness began to rise in the pit of his stomach, he snarled at the little girl and spun on his heel, putting his back to the crowd.

"Sir?" The captain's tinny voice rang out behind him.

Kylo dragged in a few ragged breaths to clear his head and closed his eyes. He pushed away all thoughts from his mind and simply stood there, focusing on his breathing. He tried to ignore the fact that he was drawing from Jedi meditation techniques to clear the scavenger from his mind. Once his breathing was under control, he was able to think logically again. Yes. They need more storm-troopers.

He turned around to give to the order to round up the children, but he caught the little girl's eyes again and was horrified to hear a firm "no" escape from his mouth instead.

"Sir?" The captain's helmet jutted back a bit in surprise.

Recovering quickly, Kylo turned to the captain angrily. "We have more pressing matters on our hands, Captain. Dare to question my orders again?"

"N-no, sir," the captain vehemently shook his head and took a step back. "Your orders, sir?"

"Go find the traitor and return him to the ship," Kylo snarled and pointed in the direction of the hut. "Do not disappoint me, captain." He spun on his heel and stormed out of the village, raging as he made his way back to his ship.

Damn the scavenger. Damn his conflicted soul. Damn that little girl with those defiant brown eyes cutting right through to his conscious.

Damn them all.

* * *

"Okay, tiny problem," Poe's voice rang out from the back of the Falcon.

"We're a little busy at the moment," Rey bit the words out as she and Chewie frantically flipped switches on the console in the cockpit.

A loud clang rang out from the back of the Falcon.

"Okay, now it's a big problem!" Poe's voice registered a bit higher this time.

Chewie roared as the ship fell out of hyperspace unexpectedly. Rey shrieked as her body was thrown forward out of her seat and against the console.

"What was that?" She demanded loudly as she re-situated herself in her seat and scanned the area, trying to ascertain their position. "Chewie, we're close enough. Get us there fast. We need to find our new friend before the First Order does," she barely waited for Chewie's roar of agreement before she jumped up and ran to the back of the Falcon just in time to see Poe ripping open floor compartments and BB-8 rolling in circles, screaming wildly.

Poe threw the floor covering to the side and glanced up at Rey. "I didn't touch anything!" He threw his hands up in the air for emphasis.

"Yes, that's the problem, Poe," Rey grabbed a handful of tools and jumped into the pit. "I told you to disconnect the cargo hold's auxiliary power."

"And I was on my way to do just that when all hell broke loose," Poe slapped one hand against the other for emphasis. "Remind me why we took this ship again?" He asked as he watched Rey dig around wires and tubing.

"Because it's the fastest ship we have!" Rey snapped back.

"It isn't fast if it's falling apart!" Already anticipating her needs, he ran and grabbed a power converter. "How bad is it?" He asked as he tossed down the part.

"It's fixable," Rey hedged as her hand automatically flew up and grabbed the part, not even bothering to look over her shoulder at him.

"Fixable in that we're only going to get half-blown up by the First Order on our way out of here?" Poe asked.

"I'm sure I can fly half a ship."

Chewie roared and Poe's head snapped up. "What's going on, buddy?" He ran down the corridor and into the cockpit. He gazed out of the cockpit as he sat in Rey's empty pilot seat. Chewie flew the Falcon fairly low above a lush, green forest.

"Where's the pick-up point?" Poe asked, glancing at the broken navigation screen. "Do we have any idea how to find this guy?"

Chewie growled, then shrugged his shoulders.

"Fabulous," Poe nodded his head. "We're doomed if Rey can't-," he was suddenly cut off as bright lights filled the cockpit and numerous systems came back online at once.

"If Rey can't what?" Rey strode back into the cockpit and immediately began punching in codes into the navigation screen to re-calibrate it.

"Guess we won't have to worry about that half ship now," Poe inserted a datachip into the navigation system and they both watched as the pick-up point appeared on the screen.

"Good. We're a few minutes out. Hopefully, our friend is still the-what's going on? What's that look for?" Poe frowned as he glanced up at the shocked expression on Rey's face as she stared out of the cockpit.

"He's here," her voice was so faint that Poe had to lean in to hear her properly.

"The guy we're picking up? Yeah, he's here. That's why we're here," Poe nodded and gave Chewie a look of confusion before gesturing to Rey with his head. Chewie shrugged and focused his attention back on piloting.

"No," Rey suddenly shook her head as if to snap herself out of a trance. "He's here. Kylo Ren." She glanced down at Poe. "The First Order. They're already here."

"Of course they are," Poe threw his hands in the air. "Why wouldn't they be?"

Chewie roared and Rey immediately leaned down and flipped a few switches. "Cloaking won't work, Chewie. He'll be able to sense me. I'm surprised he hasn't already."

"Sense you how? What does that mean?" Poe frowned as he slapped away Rey's hands and continued cloaking the Falcon.

"It's hard to explain," Rey allowed herself to be shooed away and sat back in the passenger seat.

"Something to do with the force?" Poe asked.

"Yes."

"Is it going to give away our position?"

"Possibly."

"Then we'd best pick this guy up and get the hell out of here quick," Poe sighed and glanced at the navigation screen again. "I hope he's still at the spot he said he would be."

Chewie roared over his shoulder.

"No, it will take too long to get back to the Falcon," Rey shook her head. "This is going to be quick. Land, get the officer on board, and leave. Hopefully without a fight."

"When has that ever worked out for us?" Poe replied sardonically.

"First time for everything," Rey pointed out, but an unsettled feeling in her gut told her that something had gone wrong already. She kept it to herself, though.

Leaning closer, she saw the forest part and a clearing appeared. "There," she pointed. "Near the river. There's a hut. I can sense someone in it."

"Good thing, too, because that's our pick-up point," Poe glanced down at the navigation system. "Set it down quick, Chewie, and be ready to get the hell out of here. Rey, let's go." He flipped a few more switches and jumped up, following Rey out of the cockpit to stand by the loading ramp.

He glanced at Rey as she stood silently waiting at the ramp with her hand hovering over the opening mechanism. She was staring at the door, but he could tell her mind was already elsewhere. She had been doing that a lot lately – disappearing into herself. At first, he thought she was mourning the loss of Luke Skywalker. But as the months went on, she became more and more preoccupied. He had been meaning to sit down and discuss it with her, but he had been working non-stop on short-run missions for the General, trying to garner support and gathering supplies to keep them alive and armed.

"Hey, everything okay over there?" He asked, patting her on the back.

"Hm?" Rey seemed to shake herself out of it and turned towards him. "Yes, fine," she replied distractedly before turning back to the closed ramp.

Happy that he had at least made the first contact, he decided to push her on the subject later. "Okay, you let me know the second you feel Kylo Ren or the First Order getting close."

"They're already on their way," Rey's lips thinned and a determined look crossed her face. "Kylo still hasn't sensed me yet, but I sense storm-troopers nearby."

Chewie roared from the cockpit and they felt the jostle of the ship as it touched down on land.

"Let's do this, then," Poe reached down and whipped his blaster out as Rey opened the ramp. They both took off running down the ramp before it could touch the ground.

Poe's head whipped around them as they ran, searching for white-armoured bodies against the greenery.

"I think we're good for now," He shouted as they approached the hut. "Get our man, I'll cover the hut."

Rey nodded and sped ahead, not even bothering to announce her presence before she kicked the door open and threw herself inside. Even though her eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness of the hut's interior, the force buzzed around her and her arm automatically came up and knocked a blaster away from her face. The blaster went off and hit the wall. Recovering quickly, she remembered what she was supposed to say to the man upon arrival.

"Wait!" She reached out a hand and stilled the man's arm with the force as he tried to aim his blaster at her again. "The Resistance lives," she recited as her eyes finally adjusted to the light. She took in the man's appearance: dishevelled, frantic, and terrified. His hair was all over the place as if he had been running his hands through it and tugging on it for days. His First Order uniform had patches and regalia ripped off and his once-black boots were smeared with mud and leaves.

"You came," the man's voice wavered and his arm shook once Rey released her hold on him.

"Yes," she nodded. "We're here to collect you, but we have to go now. The First Order is here and they're minutes away," she glanced around the hut for his belongings but found only a dirty blanket on the floor and a small bucket of water. "Where are the plans?" She asked him.

"I'll hand them over once I'm safe on the Resistance base," he replied firmly, though his voice still shook.

Rey felt a flash of annoyance but knew she didn't have any time to argue. "Then let's go."

"Rey!" Poe shouted outside. "We've got company!"

Rey reached forward and grabbed the man's arm, dragging him through the door as she reached down and pulled out the blaster than Han had given her. "Keep your weapon out!" She yelled at him and pointed to the Falcon. "That's our ship! Go, we'll cover you!"

A barrage of fire suddenly erupted as the stormtroopers broke through the forest and into the clearing. Poe and Rey moved quickly, firing as they ran with the officer tucked safely behind them. They managed to take down four stormtroopers right away.

Rey kept firing, but felt a panic overtake her body as the world around her suddenly grew dark and the noises around her faded to nothing.

_No, not now_, she thought desperately. Of all times for the force to connect them…

Gasping, her hand froze on the trigger as Ben's figure appeared a few feet away from her, his body turned to the side. She could see from his profile that he was staring out into the distance and frowning.

"You're here," he said softly, his voice echoing in the force connection.

"Not now!" She cried angrily, trying to squint through the darkness around him for the stormtroopers. She could hear Poe's voice screaming her name and she knew that he was forced to cover her whilst she was stuck standing in the force connection, blind to the outside world.

"Are my stormtroopers giving you problems?" He asked, eyebrow raised as he finally turned to face her.

Rey tried to ignore the skip in her heart as his eyes finally reached her. After months of no contact between them, she wasn't fully prepared for the rush of feelings that flooded her. Disappointment. Frustration. Confusion.

But most frustrating of all…hope.

"Your friends are having trouble covering you," He continued as he slowly approached her.

"Leave so I can help them!" Rey cried desperately, terrified at the thought of Poe or Chewie getting hurt at her expense.

"No, I don't think I will," Ben stalked closer, but Rey was afraid to move for fear of bumping into her friends or putting herself into harm's way. "You're trying to steal one of my officers."

"I'm not stealing anything," Rey spat. "And he isn't with the First Order any longer. Unlike you, he listens to his conscious!"

"No," Ben said quietly as he came to a stop inches from her. "He's being selfish and trying to save his own life. You think he ran to the Resistance with a peace offering out of the goodness of his heart?" He scoffed lightly. "No. He was caught using First Order funds to support his spice and gambling habit. He knew my generals were onto him. He stole the most valuable thing he could get his hands on and he ran." He spat, his voice growing louder with each word as he expressed his anger. "Don't be naïve. He isn't trying to help you. He doesn't care about you or the Resistance at all."

Rey shook her head, frowning as she tried to take it all in. "Even if that's true," she replied hesitantly. "He still has something to offer us that will save countless lives."

A blaster shot rang through the silence of their connection.

"Not anymore," Ben replied after a pause.

Rey could hear her friends screaming as the world around her started to return and the darkness lifted.

"What?" She asked, but it was too late. The connection had closed.

"REY!"

Rey jumped as Poe's voice shouted in her ear. He was half-dragging her to the ramp on the Falcon whilst still shooting at the remaining stormtroopers.

Rey turned her head and saw Chewie run up the ramp with the officer thrown over his shoulder. From the angle of his body and the large burn mark on his chest, she knew he had been shot and killed.

"No!" She cried, horrified. She brought her blaster up and made quick work of the remaining two stormtroopers, shaking off Poe's hand and running to the ramp with him close behind.

"Let's go!" Poe shouted as he closed the ramp. "I can see more coming through the trees!"

They both ran to the cockpit, jumping over the officer's lifeless body in the corridor. Rey felt tears of frustration form in her eyes as she jumped into the pilot's seat. She and Chewie launched the Falcon into the sky and immediately set a course back to the base.

As Chewie pulled the lever and the ship roared into hyperspace, Rey sank back in her seat.

They failed.

They lost the most important asset the Resistance could get their hands on, and it was all because of her.

Because of the force connection.

Because of her connection to Ben.

Damn it all.

* * *

A/N: Chapter two coming soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

* * *

"Base, this is the Falcon," Poe leaned over Rey's shoulder to speak into the onboard communicator as she and Chewie piloted the ship.

"Falcon, requesting your codes," Connix's tinny voice replied.

"Sending them now," Poe inserted the chip into the console and waited.

Silence stretched into the cockpit while Connix checked their security codes. Rey and Poe had been avoiding each other's eyes ever since they had escaped the First Order and jumped into hyperspace.

"Welcome home, Falcon," Connix replied after the security codes checked out. "We've been eagerly awaiting your return."

Rey visibly flinched at the excitement in the Lieutenant's voice.

"Yeah, well, have a med unit waiting for us," Poe replied calmly, but Rey could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"How many injured?" Connix asked.

"One casualty," Poe responded.

There was a long pause. "Med skiff will be ready and waiting, Falcon."

"Thanks, Connix," Poe switched the communicator off and leaned back in the passenger seat as an uncomfortable silence settled in the cockpit.

Rey glanced over her shoulder at Poe and watched him sigh and rake his hand over his face and through his hair. She turned to Chewie and saw that the wookie was watching her.

He roared reassuringly at her.

"It _is _my fault," Rey replied. "If I hadn't gotten distracted-."

"What happened back there?" Poe interjected, crossing his arms in agitation "You just stopped shooting and started yelling at no one. It sounded like you were talking to yourself in the middle of a firefight."

Rey turned back to the console and prepared the landing gear. "I can't really explain it," she hedged. "I was…seeing things," she continued hesitantly, trying desperately to explain herself without getting into the true nature of the force connection. She hadn't told anyone about her connection to Ben – not even to Leia. It hadn't opened since their time on Crait, so Rey assumed there was no need to discuss it with anyone. If anyone from the Resistance found out that she was in communication with Ben, she had a feeling it wouldn't be taken well.

Her worst fear would be that they would assume that she was inadvertently giving away her location (and they would probably be right). Knowing that, they might force Rey to distance herself from the Resistance, and the only friends she'd ever known, in order to protect themselves from the First Order. She wouldn't blame them one bit for it, as it would be the right decision to make, but she knew that if she kept her mouth shut about the connection, she could continue helping the Resistance. She knew that the benefits outweighed the risks on this one.

"Seeing things?" Poe leaned forward, disbelieving. "As in psychosis?"

"No," Rey replied quickly, guiding the Falcon to the landing pad outside of their base on Ajan Kloss. She could see the ground crew waving flares through the trees as she and Chewie grew closer. Her lips thinned at the sight of the medical skiff approaching with General Leia walking close behind.

They set the Falcon down and she and Chewie quickly made work of shutting down the systems.

"Then what?" Poe continued, standing and blocking the door to the cockpit.

"I-, I don't know," Rey blurted out in frustration and annoyance as she stood and spun out of her chair. "It just happened! It was probably stress or some delayed effects of hyperspace sickness or something."

Poe crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned at her for what seemed like ages.

Faltering slightly under his scrutiny, Rey felt her hands fidgeting with the fabric of her tunic while she met his stare head-on.

Chewie roared and waved a hand at Poe as if to shoo him away.

"Sorry, Chewie," Poe grumbled as he moved to the side for the wookie, but continued to block Rey's exit. Rey watched as Chewie leaned down and picked up the body of the First Order officer. She heard him walk down the corridor and activate the loading ramp.

Dozens of voices all spoke at once as Chewie made his way out of the Falcon, but they were drowned out as Poe moved in front of her and leaned down towards her.

"I don't like this," he stated firmly, his jaw set. "You've been acting strangely for months. Ever since Crait."

Rey blinked in surprise. She had no idea that Poe had been watching her so closely.

"You're going to brief the General about this with me, and I'm going to recommend that you get a full medical examination and clearance before you're allowed in the field again. We don't need a repeat of today, Rey."

Rey slowly nodded, her eyes dropping from his.

"And hey," Poe brought a hand up to settle on her shoulder, giving it a little shake. "I'm worried about you."

Rey glanced up at his sincere face and swallowed, nodding. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Chewie's right, it's not your fault," Poe shook her shoulder lightly again. "Don't beat yourself up – it was out of your control. But you know what is in your control?"

"What?" Rey asked.

"Taking care of yourself," he stressed. "You're right, it was probably just stress. I've seen people lose their minds after witnessing only a quarter of the trauma you've witnessed."

"Okay," Rey nodded, desperate for him to believe it was just a stress-induced hallucination and nothing more.

"Good," Poe smiled and pat her shoulder before turning around and exiting the cockpit. "Let's figure this out, shall we?"

Rey nodded and followed him down the ramp, taking in the chaos around her. The medics were loading the officer's body onto the stiff and people were shouting orders over one another. Leia had Chewie by the arm and was asking if he was okay. He roared an affirmative and they both turned to Rey and Poe.

"What happened?" Leia demanded as she quickly made her way over to them. "Are you both okay?"

"It's a long story," Poe replied. "And we should probably discuss it in private."

"Well, let's get this over with," Leia sighed and gestured for them to follow her through the open-air base.

* * *

Captain Veau felt terror grip his pounding heart as he knelt on the floor before the Supreme Leader. His blaster was on the ground right beside him, but he knew it was useless against the Supreme Leader. Besides, even if he did manage to kill the force user in self-defence, the table full of generals behind him would kill him before he could exit the room.

"Let me see if I understood this correctly, captain," Kylo's soft voice broke the silence in the room as he gazed out into space with his back to the occupants of the room. "You and your men engaged the Resistance fighters."

Veau waited for a long pause before realizing that he was expected to answer. "Yes, my lord."

"It was twelve against four."

"Yes, my lo-," Veau's voice ended with a gurgle as something invisible tightened around his neck and constricted his air supply.

"Don't lie, captain," Kylo continued without turning, his voice still as soft as ever. "It was twelve against three, wasn't it?"

Veau tried to speak, but he couldn't get any air into his lungs. Panicking, he reached up and removed his helmet to instinctively grab at the invisible hands at his neck. It didn't help.

"I know it was twelve against three because I was distracting the fourth Resistance fighter from my position on the other side of the mountain. Their strongest fighter, I might add," Kylo slowly turned, his hands clasping behind his back as he watched the stormtrooper captain slowly turn purple from lack of oxygen. "And even with my help, you and your incompetent men still couldn't take down two Resistance fighters and a defected First Order officer with only basic weapons training."

"He did manage to kill the traitor," General Kerrs spoke up from the table beside them.

Instantly, the vise on Veau's neck disappeared and he collapsed to the floor, dragging air into his lungs with deep, desperate breaths.

Kylo turned to General Kerrs as his temper rose and flung his hand out, pushing the general out of his chair and into the wall behind him using the force. Clenching his fist, he dragged the general up the wall by his neck and watched as the man grabbed his neck and flailed, kicking his legs in every direction.

"And we _still_ don't have the plans back!" Kylo raged and clenched his fist tighter, restricting General Kerrs' airways. "They could be in Resistance hands right now!"

The rest of the generals wisely sat perfectly still and silent, though a few of them swallowed hard and tried to keep their gazes on the table in front of them.

"If I may," General Hux's voice drawled out casually as he watched Kerrs hang from the wall. "I believe my men have uncovered an encrypted message that Dugal sent right before he stole the plans and escaped with them."

Kylo dropped his hold on Kerrs and spun on Hux, narrowing his eyes.

"Is this the message to the Resistance?" The general next to him asked Hux, eyes darting between the table and Kylo to ensure that he hadn't drawn ire from the Supreme Leader.

"No, highly doubtful. This message was sent to Kreya."

The generals in the room all shared the same look of confusion. Kreya was a planet on the outer rim that was a known hideaway for criminals, smugglers, and slave traders.

Kylo turned his back on the table and returned to his original position by the window, staring out into space.

"I believe the message was sent to a contact on Kreya, who then, in turn, contacted the Resistance on Dugal's behalf," Hux continued, ignoring Kerrs noisy scramble from the floor back to his seat at the table. "If we're able to find this contact on Kreya, we can easily find the location of the Resistance and wipe them out before they have a chance to find any weaknesses in our new fleet."

The generals all nodded, but kept glancing over at Kylo to judge his reaction.

Kylo paused as he considered Hux's words. On the surface, they rang true. However, something was nagging at him underneath. He slowly turned and eyed Hux from across the room. The redhead sat and stared at him, and damn if a small smirk wasn't creeping around the edges of his mouth. The smug bastard knew he had done something worthy of praise and sat there preening amongst his generals.

Force, he wanted to punch the man.

"If what you say is true," Kylo stepped forward and narrowed his eyes at Hux. "Then we can't afford to let incompetent idiots ruin this opportunity."

Somewhere behind him, Veau let out a small squeak of fear.

"I will go," Kylo announced firmly. "I will take my knights and we will clean up this mess once and for all."

"I'll prepare your ship," one of the generals announced, already sending the message on his datapad.

"In the meantime, continue preparations on the new fleet," Kylo ordered, striding out of the room without a backwards glance. "And await my orders."

The door shut on the chorus of agreements behind him as he walked away.

* * *

A/N: Just a short update for now, but I like to update my stories frequently. :)


End file.
